... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...apologised on Friday over alleged anti-Semitic comments that drew global condemnation.
"If people were offended by my statement at the Paleostinian National Council, especially people of the Jewish faith, I apologise to them," he said in a statement, days after appearing to suggest Jewish behaviour, including money lending, led to their persecution in Europe.
The English-language statement added he wanted "to reiterate our long-held condemnation of the Holocaust, as the most heinous crime in history".
"We condemn anti-Semitism in all its forms, and confirm our commitment to the two-state solution, and to (living) side by side in peace and security."
It did not specifically apologise for his claim about Jewish persecution.
Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman immediately rejected the statement on Twitter.
Abbas "is a pathetic Holocaust denier who wrote a doctorate about Holocaust denial and then a book about Holocaust denial," he said, citing past works that had already led to accusations of anti-Semitism. "His apology is not accepted."